The Joseph A. Myers Center is committed to providing training opportunities for tribal members, community members, and a new generation of scholars who address Native American issues through community-based and collaborative research.
In partnership with ISSI, the Center also provides training workshops on methods (e.g., participant observation, computer-assisted data management programs, in-depth interviewing), how to conduct evaluations and surveys in Indian country, and Federal Indian Law 101 (e.g., tribal sovereignty, tribal governance issues).
Graduate Fellows Program
For more than thirty years, the Graduate Fellows Program has provided an interdisciplinary research and training environment as a complement to advanced degree programs in the social sciences and professional schools. Over 100 graduate student fellows have successfully completed their doctoral studies and gone on to establish distinguished academic careers that have significantly influenced their respective disciplines. When funding permits, Myers Center Fellowshops are designated to support doctoral students doing research on Native American issues. Read more about the Graduate Fellows Program.
Native American Museum Studies Institute
The Joseph A. Myers Center for Research on Native American Issues, in collaboration with the California Indian Museum and Cultural Center and the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Antropology, provides a free intensive week-long training in museum skills to staff and volunteers of tribal museums and cultural centers. Read more about NAMSI.
Development Economics for Indian Country
This course offers students a wide-ranging introduction to many of the topics and issues central to economic development across Native American communities in the United States. The course is divided into 15 modules which cut across diverse academic fields, including history, sociology, economics, management, psychology, and anthropology. The course material, in the form of publicly available videos, includes lectures and presentations that cover both foundational issues in these fields as well as applied topics directly relevant to the kinds of business formation, entrepreneurship, and infrastructure development needed in Indian country. When it comes to foundational issues in these fields, students are introduced to ideas such as the psychology of scarcity, collective and private property rights, comparative advantage, sustainability, public and private corruption, good government, institutional innovation, incentives and trust, market and command economies, monopoly and competition, finance and credit, organizational strategy, and many other topics of great importance in economic development. Ideas from some of the most influential thinkers on these topics are featured in the talks and presentations. Read more about the course and access the study modules here.
CER Summer Workshop for Undergraduates
The Myers Center, in collaboration with the Center for Ethnographic Research (CER) at the University of California, Berkeley, offers an intensive qualitative research workshop for undergraduate and graduate students. The Myers Center provides two scholarships for highly motivated undergraduates or beginning graduate students who are conducting research on issues affecting Native American communities today. Read more about the CER Summer Workshop and the application process here.
